In pursuance of continuing efforts to maintain a maximum level of cleanliness in various hospital facilities, such as operating and delivery rooms, means and procedures are constantly being developed to minimize the carrying of contaminating materials into these facilities. One particularly important possibility for such contamination lies in the means by which patients are transported from common areas of a hospital, such as reception rooms, X-ray laboratories, and corridors, into the sterile areas. It is desirable to transport said patients with a minimum disturbance, and yet undesirable to permit a transport means such as a stretcher or bed to carry contamination on its wheels or other components from the common area into the sterile area.
This problem has been previously recognized and some efforts made to solve it, however, these previous efforts have not been fully satisfactory. The present invention was developed to provide a more complete and satisfactory solution to this problem.
In particular, the patient in certain previous efforts, such as those illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,883,991 and 4,011,609, is moved sidewise from one bed to another under conditions which require either manual lifting of the patient or manual lifting and sliding of a patient-carrying litter by personnel acting at each end of the respective beds. This is time consuming and requires two or more persons to accomplish this effectively. Said U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,609 also illustrates means for connecting two carriers in a side-by-side relationship, wherein the carriers are first aligned manually, and then each of several interlocking devices is individually and manually engaged, and later disengaged. This is likewise time consuming.
Other means, such as that illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,668, have been developed for transporting a patient from one carrier to another on a single litter by means of rollers on both devices, but in this case the carriers are merely butted against a barrier and held thereagainst while the patient support means is moved. This requires personnel to hold the carriers against the barrier while other personnel move the patient support means.
In a continuing effort to improve such apparatus and overcome the above disadvantages, the device of this invention has now been developed wherein the carriers are provided with self-aligning end-to-end interlock means to ensure a secure interconnection while the patient is moved from one carrier to the other. The interlock means engages automatically when the carriers are pushed together in an end-to-end relationship, and is quickly and easily disengaged by a single release operation at any of several remote locations on the carrier. The interlock means is self-contained, requires no obstructing floor devices, and permits the entire patient transfer operation to be performed efficiently by a single person, with minimal discomfort to the patient.
Accordingly, the objects of the invention include:
1. To provide transport means for transporting an inert patient from a zone of high contamination to a zone of low contamination, with minimal disturbance to the patient, and minimal carrying of contaminating material from the first zone to the second zone, said transport means utilizing two wheel-supported patient carriers and having means to convey the patient therebetween.
2. To provide transport means, as aforesaid, including self-contained interlock means which is self-engaging, and securely interconnects the two carriers in an end-to-end relationship to provide a safe and efficient transfer of the patient therebetween.
3. To provide transport means, as aforesaid, which involves minimal structural change from presently known equipment such that additional manufacturing expense is minimized, operates in a manner obvious to hospital personnel upon inspection or after minimal instruction, is fully compatible with present hospital techniques and equipment, and does not interfere with the general functional use of either of said carriers.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with equipment of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.